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Residents seethe over hit and run as boy recovers

By JOHN GHIRARDINI
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 04/18/06
An 8-year-old Loganville boy whose arm was nearly severed in a hit-and-run accident Sunday night underwent successful surgery Monday.

The boy, whose first name is Daniel, was listed in fair condition late Monday, according to a spokesman for Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston. His last name was not released.

Police said the child was riding his bicycle near his home in Gwinnett Estates mobile home park off U.S. 78 about 7 p.m. Sunday when a cargo van struck him and dragged him several feet.

Witnesses said the driver got out of his van, helped residents move the child off the road, then got back behind the wheel and began to drive off.

The bicycle was under the van, and the van stopped again about 20 feet farther. The driver got out again, tossed the bike into a yard and drove off.

Witnesses were on the phone to 911 during the incident and were able to give police a tag number. An officer spotted the van less than a mile away and arrested the driver.

The suspect was identified as Adan Torres Garcia, 25, of Lawrenceville. He remained in the Gwinnett jail Monday without bond on two felony charges related to Sunday's incident. He also had an unrelated misdemeanor.

A $5,700 bond was set on additional charges of DUI and no driver's license, according to jail records.

Residents said Garcia lived in the complex or was often at one of the mobile homes. Witnesses said a male passenger also was in the van and helped carry Daniel off the road.

Police could not confirm whether a second man had been in the van; only Garcia was in it when it was pulled over, said police spokesman Cpl. Darren Moloney.

On Monday afternoon, the anger was palpable in the pleasant community of modest doublewides.

"You've got people flying up and down here," said resident Margaret Loyola. "There's a lot of small kids. You're not running a race."

Loyola couldn't believe the driver drove away after striking Daniel.

"That's coldhearted," she said. "Drunk, sober or whatever, you don't hit a kid and do that."

Another resident, Lee Bagwell, said most of the residents are aware of the many children in the neighborhood and are careful about keeping an eye out.

Bagwell's husband, Dan, was one of the residents who called in the tag number to police.

"It could have been my kid," a shaken Dan Bagwell said Monday. "I was running over to [Daniel] while I was giving [police] the tag number. I hope they bury these two guys."

Dan Bagwell said Daniel celebrated a birthday over the weekend.

Doctors didn't yet know how much use Daniel will have of his arm, which was cut severely, or how much rehabilitation he'll have to undergo.

The Bagwells' son Brian, 14, was an eyewitness to the incident as he was out playing Sunday night.

He said the residents were stunned by what took place.

"They didn't believe it really happened," Brian said.

"Everyone was in shock," his mother said.